But Mayor Ed Pawlowski said he asked for Carter to be taken off the team after past allegations were brought to his attention. Carter is accused to raping a servicewoman in his National Guard unit in 1984.

Pawlowski said Carter has maintained his innocence of the charges, but the city doesn't want any questions to be raised about the process used to select the new chief, he said.

"There were enough questions about his particular past employment as we delved into
it," Pawlowski said. "I think this process
needs to be above reproach, so we asked him to step down and leave."

City resident Don Ringer criticized the mayor during the forum for creating controversy in the process and for hiring the firm in the first place. Strategic Police Partnership's services will cost about $30,000.

"This is the consulting firm we gave $30,000 to," Ringer said loudly, questioning why Allentown wasn't able to find its own chief.

"When you look at most major cities, they’ll actually have
someone help them with a search," Pawlowski said. "This group comes very highly recommended. They’ve worked with cities across the country."

"As
soon as I heard there was any sort of controversy here, we removed him from the
team," Pawlowski said.